Roller-press.



No. 657,676. Patented Sept. II, I900. E. BEAGAN.

ROLLER PRESS.

(Application filed Mar. 10, 1900.; (No Model.) 4 Sheets-$heet l.

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Patented Sgpt. ll, I900.

E. REAGAN.

ROLLER PRESS.

(Application filed Mar. 10, 1900.]

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

{No Model.)

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No.- 657,676. Patented Sept. ll, I900. E. REAGAN.

ROLLER PRESS.

(Application filed Mar. 10, 1900.1 (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sh96t 3.

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No. 657,676. Patented Sept. ll, I900. E. REAGAN.

ROLLER PRESS.

(Application filed Mar. 10, 1900.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets$heet 4.

1 iiiveiifor Uni'rnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR REAGAN, OF FLORESVILLE, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WVILBUR O.BRUFF, OF SAME PLACE.

ROLLER-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 657,676, datedSeptember 11, 1900. Application fil ed March 10, 1900. Serial No. 8,224.(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR REAGAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Floresville, in the county of Wilson and State of Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller-Presses; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to roller-presses designed to form a cylindricalbale of the cotton-batting as it is delivered from the gin, and moreparticularly to such type of presses employing fixed and movablecompressionrollers and a bale-core mounted in a movable frame.

Heretofore in the continuous operation of inning cotton and pressing itinto cylinrical bales the compression-rollers and the condenser were runat the same .speed, and when the bale was completed and the pressrollersstopped to remove the bale the gin was kept running,oausing anaccumulation of bat in the gin-chute. In most instances two presses wereemployed for each gin to avoid this accumulation of bat.

Now one of the objects of my invention is to provide a driving mechanismfor a rollerpress which will afford a comparatively fast and slow speedfor the rollers, the fast speed to be employed in taking up theaccumulation of bat and after this is wound on the balecore then toemploy the slower speed for forming the bale. Thus the two speeds giventhe press will enable the ginner to use but one press where before itwas necessary to use two.

It is also my object to provide means which will facilitate the rem ovalof the halo and the adjustment of the bale-core; also, to provide meansfor drawing the bale-cover around the bale while it is in the press,utilizing the action of the compression-rollers and the bale end diskstherefor.

It is also my object to provide a sheet-metal tube to be pressed withand left in the bale, which shall be proof against fire and dampnessentering the center of the bale.

It is also my object to provide a driving mechanism for the fourcompression-rollers which shall insure their rolling smoothly and at aneven speed upon the bale formation, whether slow or fast, without injuryto the fiber, giving the same pressure throughout the formation of thebale.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my roller-press, above which isshown a portion of the gin feeding the cotton-batting. Fig. 2 representsa top plan view of the press. Fig. 3 represents a rear end view of thesame. Fig. 4 represents a vertical crosssection of the sliding housing,boxing, and releasing devices for one of the bale end disks. Fig. 5represents a front elevation of the housing, boxing, &c., shown in Fig.4. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 show detail views of housing, boxing, 850., shownin Fig. l. Fig. 9 shows detached a side view of the sliding frame whichcarries the movable com pressionrollers. Fig. 10 shows a side elevationin section of the sliding pinion which operates the movable rollers,together with the box for same, the pinion being splined to thedrivingshaft. Fig. 11 is a front end elevation show ing swinging arms,mountings, and connections for operating the drive pulleys anddriving-shaft of press by the motorshaft. Fig. 12 is a detail view ofthe tube and mandrel therefor, which together form the halecore proper.Fig. 13 is a detail perspective of one of the bale end disks, showingcorrugated face and center bearing for bale-core mandrel. Fig. 14 is adetail view in section of the stationary shaft with means attached I forconnecting the drive-pulleys, spurs, and supporting swing-arms therefor.Fig. 15 is a top plan view showing manner of attaching bale-cover tobale end disks. Fig. 16 is a diagrammatic view showing relative positionof the four compression -'rollers, halo, and feed and presser roller.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 denotes the main frame ofthe press, mounted upon a base 2. Said frame consists of upper and lowerend rails 1, connected by tie-bolts 1 to upper and lower side frames 1",said side frames being each composed of two parallel members 1, theunder sides of the upper members of said frames and the upper sides ofthe lower members of said frames forming ways, hereinafter mentioned.

1 denotes a stationary frame mounted in frame 1.

3 denotes a sliding frame mounted in, adapted to move lengthwise of theframe 1, and fastened to a plunger 4, which enters a cylinder 5. Saidcylinder is provided with suitable connections, valves, and valve-gearoperated by hand -lever (not shown) for actuating the sliding frame 3forward or moving it backward. Steam, compressed air, or other power maybe employed in the cylinder. The sliding frame, as shown in Fig. 9, iscomposed of an upper and lower sliding or hearing surface, which fitswithin the main frame. Said parts are connected by vertical, diagonal,and horizontal braces, together forming a truss or skeleton frame havingjournals through which pass the axles of the upper and lowercompression-rollers.

7 7 denote the movable compression-rollers, journaled in said slidingframe, their axles projecting at one end. The upper roller is providedwith a gear-wheel 7 and the lower roller with a like gear-wheel 7 whichhas also a beveled gear, as hereinafter mentioned.

8 denotes a pinion which is jou rnaled to the sliding frame and mesheswith the gears of the upper and lower rollers, serving as a spur for theupper roller and causing it to revolve at an even speed with the lowerone.

9 9 denote the stationary compression-rollers, journaled in frame 1",which is a duplicate of frame 3, their axles projecting at one end andprovided with like gear-wheels 9 9 the latter having also a beveledgear, as hereinafter mentioned.

1O denotes a pinion journaled in the fram 1 and meshing with the wheels9 9", serving as a spur for the former and causing it to revolve' at aneven speed with the lower roller.

The rollers '7 7 and 9 9 and their attached gears are of likedimensions, and the axles of the upper rollers and those of the lowerrollers are mounted in like horizontal planes.

1 11 denotes the driving-shaft for the press, carrying a beveled pinion12, rigidly secured thereto, which meshes with the gear-wheel Said shaftalso carries a beveled pinion 13, which is splined thereto, which pinionthrough the medium of a sliding bearing 14 is rigidly secured to thesliding frame, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 10. Said bearing, as shown in Fig. 3, is alsobolted directly to the sliding frame, and the purpose of this directconnection between the sliding frame and bearing and pinion is toprevent any vibration of the shaft 11.

14: denotes a pinion fastened to the sliding frame, which meshes with a.rack-bar 14 fastened to the base 2. (Shown in Fig. 1.) A like pinion andrack-bar are secured to the opposite side of said frame and togetherserve to steady the movement of the sliding frame. The pinion 13 drivesthe movable compression-rollers and being of like size and gear withpinion 12 the four rollers move with uniform speed.

T denotes a feed and presser roller mount ed in feed and presserbearings 25 f.

m denotes the bale-core mandrel, and m denotes the tube which fits overthe mandrel. Said tube is preferably made of thin sheet metal and whenpressed in with the bale forms a proof against fire or dampness enteringthe center of the bale.

Between the stationary and movable rollers within frame 1 are mountedthe movable or sliding housings 15, one upon each side of said frame,provided with lugs l5 on. their top and bottom bearing-surfaces whichplay between the ways on the upper and lower side frames 1, upon whichsaid surfaces bear. Said housings are dished, as shown in Fig. 4, andprovided with hubs 15*, having an internal screw-thread therein. Asshown in Fig. 7, said housings serve to carry the bale end disks whichsupport the bale-core and are slid or moved forward by the action of themovable compression-rollers as they press the bale formation forward inthe direction of the sta tionary compression-rollers. As the baleincreases in diameter there may be a slight backward movement to saidhousing to admit or allow for the growing diameter of the cotton-bale.

16 denotes a pinion providedwith a threaded sleeve adapted to enter thehub 15".

17 denotes levers mounted on the housings 15 and provided with segmentalracks which mesh with the pinions 16, as shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5.

18 denotes bale end disks provided with pinholes 18 about a sixteenth ofan inch in diameter and about an inch in depth arranged two inches apartaround their peripheries and adapted to receive pins, as hereinafterdescribed. The faces of said disks are corrugated to give a better holdupon the edge of the cotton bat and have at their centers cone-shapedrecesses 18 to receive the coneshaped ends of the bale core. Said diskshave axle-arms 18, provided with pin and Washer 18 to hold the arms inplace, as shown in Fig. 6.

It will be seen that by operating the lever 17 the segmental rack willturn pinion 16, having the threaded sleeve, which thread bearing uponthe thread in hub 15" will cause said pinion to be forced backward andin its turn, as said pinion bears against the washer 18, will move thebale end disk back, thus causing the bale-core to drop and release thebale, as hereinafter described.

18 denotes the bale-cover.

The driving-shaft 11 projects through the front end of the frame 1,passing through a journal'box 11, and has journaled thereto two swingingarms 19 and keyed thereto two gear-wheels 20 and 21, the former having alarger diameter.

22 and 23 denote spur-gears which mesh ICC with gears 20 and 21, thelatter having a larger diameter.

Gear-wheel 20 and its spur 22 cause the shaft 11 to revolve at a speedof about sixteen revolutions per minute, while gear 21 and its spur 23revolve said shaft about twenty revolutions per minute. This ratio ofsaid gears may be varied to suit contingencies.

24, 25, and 26 denote pulleys, the latter being an idler. Said pulleysare loosely mounted on a stationary shaft 27 which is keyed to the arms19. The spur-gears 22 and 23 are also loosely mounted on said shaft, butadapted to be keyed, respectively, to the hubs of the adjacent pulleysby keys 28 and 29.

3O denotes a metal rod hooked to eyes 31 on the upper ends of arms 19and extending rearwardly of the same pass through and are held in apartition 32 in screw-threaded sockets. The outer ends of said rods arethreaded to pass through said sockets and are provided with a crank fortightening the rods and adjusting the same to tighten the belt 35. InFig. 11 a diagrammatic view is shown in dotted lines to illustrate thatthe swinging arms carrying the shaft 27 and incumbent pulleys and gearsmay be shifted to any position to meet the location of the motor-shaft,which should be common to both the gin and press. Thus the press canreadily be attached to the motor-shaft of any gin.

33 denotes the motor-shaft, which also operates the gin, and 34 the beltfor operating the press.

35 denotes the belt-shifter.

The end of shaft 11, projecting outside of the main frame,may besupported by a hanger or otherwise secured.

The press is started by shifting the belt from the idler-pulley 26 topulley 25, which drives the shaft 11 at the maximum speed. As this speedis communicated to the four compression-rollers it causes them torevolve the bale formation at comparatively-high speed because of itssmall diameter. This speed of the rollers is continued until the accumulated bat is taken up. The belt is then shifted to the slow-speedpulley 24 and the bale is formed by the compression-rollers running atslow speed.v This description of the manner of starting the presspresupposes an accumulation of bat in the gin. It should be understoodthat in the operation of ginning and pressing cotton the gin iscontinuously forming the cotton-bat, which accumulates rapidly as soonas the press stops taking bat. This always occurs when the press isstopped to remove the bale and made ready to take another. There areother causes for stopping the press and all the while the gin is formingbat. Again, the diameter of the bale formation is small at first anddoes not draw upon the bat as fast as it does later when the diameter isincreased. Therefore when my press is first started I employ the maximumspeed of the press to take up this accumulated bat on the bale-core anduse the slower speed for taking the bat regularly as the diameter of thehalo increases. When the bale is finished, the covering is adjustedwhile the bale is under pressure as follows: The covering being wideenough to project over the ends of the bale sufficiently to cover themalso, it is fastened at one end to the disks by pins, which are passedthrough the covering and into one of the holes in each disk, the headsof the pins being pushed in until the covering is tightly clamped toeach disk. The sides of the covering projecting over each end of thebale are accommodated in the space formed by the dished housings 15between it and the back of the disks, the purpose of dishing saidhousings being to allow ample space around the back of the disks toaccommodate an extra wide coverand allow the projecting sides of coverto pass around the back of the disks. It is evident thatinstead ofhaving the holes 18 in the peripheries of the disks said holes may bemadein the back of the disks, though I prefer the construction shown inthe drawings. The com pression-rollers are revolved until the coveringis passed around the bale, when it is cut and the ends fastened. Thebale is removed from the press after the pressure is taken off byoperating from either side of the press one of the levers 17. This willmove the corresponding disk outward within its housing and allow thebale-core to fall out of its bearing. The projectin g sides of thecovering are then drawn together at the core by a cord inserted in itsedges. The tube which is pressed in with the bale under pressure maybemade of sheettin or other material and should be proof against fire anddampness entering the center of the bale. The bale-core is removed fromthe tube when the bale is finished, and besides serving as a bale-coreit acts as a mandrel to prevent the tube collapsing while underpressure. To adjust the bale-core, it is first placed within thesheet-metal tube and its projecting conical ends inserted in therecesses 18 formed in said disks.

As the four compression-rollers are driven bya single shaft, an evenspeed is insured to each roller throughout the operation of forming thebale, and whether the rollers be moved faster or slower the pressureupon the halo is uniform throughout its formation at the points ofcontact of the four rollers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patcut, is

1. In combination with acontinuously-opcrating bat-feeding mechanism, aseries of press-rollers, variable-speed mechanism for operating saidrollers, and a driving mechanism connecting said feed mechanism withsaid variable-speed mechanism.

2. In a roller-press adapted to receive cotton-batting directly from thegin, the combination of the driving-shaft having means for actuating thecompression-rollers, the compression-rollers, two sets ofindependentlyactuated gears attached to said shaft and adapted to give arelatively slow or fast speed to the compression-rollers, and means foractuating either of said sets of gears for operating said shaft.

3. In a roller-press adapted to receive cotton-batting directly from thegin, the combination, of a driving-shaft having means for actuating thecompression-rollers, two sets of independent gears attached to saidshaft and supported by arms mounted on said shaft, and independent meansfor operating said gears to give a variable speed to said shaft.

4. In a roller-press adapted to receive cotton-batting directly from thegin the combination, of a driving-shaft for the compressionrollershaving gear-Wheels of varying diameter, arms mounted on saiddriving-shaft supporting between them a stationary shaft having looselymounted thereon spur-gears which mesh with said gear-Wheels, companionpulleys adapted to be keyed independently to said spur-gears, and meansfor operating said pulleys.

5. In a roller-press for forming cylindrical bales, the combination ofthe revoluble bale end disks having recesses or holes therein, for theinsertion of pins for clam ping the ends of the bale-covering in saidrecesses.

6. In a roller-press for forming cylindrical bales, the combination ofthe revoluble bale end disks, means for temporarily clamping thebale-covering to said disks, and dished or recessed bale-core holders,whereby space is afforded between the backs of said disks and saidholders to accommodate a bale-cover of sufficient width to cover theends of the bale.

7. In a rollerpress having a detachable bale-core, the combination ofthe bale end disks having axle-arms for supporting the same, the dishedhousings having a threaded hub, a spur having a threaded sleeve fittingsaid hub through which said axle arms pass, and a segmental rack meshingwith said spur. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence oftwo Witnesses.

EDGAR REAGAN.

Witnesses:

O. A. MCCBACKEN, W. H. BLANTON.

